My Writings (I hope!) reflect my Guiding Principles:
-'Enjoy Life to the Utmost but not at other people's expense'-'Think Global, Act Local'-'Variety is the Spice of Life'-'Use Technology & Wisdom to Make the World A Better Place for All God's Creatures'-'Do Not Accept Injustice No Matter Where You Find It'-'Laughter is the Best Medicine'

Castle Ellen & the 3 Athenry Castles Heritage Cycle Trail: Part 1

As part of National Bike Week and Galway Bike
Festival, I initiated on behalf of Cumann na bhFear (Men's Shed) a new heritage cycle trail on Sunday June 15th. The event will be repeated on Sunday August 30th. Rendezvous: 10.15am, in front of Athenry Castle.

Known as the Three Athenry Castles' Heritage Looped Cycle Trail, it starts at Athenry (Irish = Baile Átha an Rí, "Ford of the King") Castle, continues on through the bogs of Bengarra
and Monivea, through the demesne of the Anglo-Norman Ffrench family, onto the village of Monivea (Irish = Muine Mheá, "Meadow of the mead), with a stopover at the fine Georgian mansion of Castle
Ellen and finishes up at its medieval starting point.

Botharín, Currantarmuid

The rural landscape covered by the trail is a
delightful though largely unknown (to the non-residents) cornucopia of
small farms, hedgerows, traditional drystone walls, botharíns, villages, lakes,
bogs, rivers, castles, and Georgian mansions that are waiting to be discovered
by walkers and cyclists.

fFrench Mausoleum, Monivea

One of the main highlight for participants will be a stop-over at the 1810 Castle Ellen (Caisleán Eilise) mansion
where we will be greeted by the owner and renowned antiquarian MichaelKeaney (Micheál Ó Cionnaith)and his assistant Annette Flanagan.

Castle Ellen jn its imperial heyday

Michael has a keen interest in ensuring
that our looped heritage cycle trail becomes a permanent tourism fixture in
east Galway as he has ambitious plans to transform this historical building and
it grounds into an alternative hostel aimed towards the walkers’ and cyclists’
market.

The new Dormitory

The proposed living quarters for guests has a dormitory layout, woodfire stoves, limestone walls and paintings by Lol Hardiman (see photo above).

The Courtyard

Michael will bring us on a guided tour of his
fascinating mansion, its extensive farmyard and outbuildings, the pasture lands
and a new wood that he is populating with trees, native wildflowers and
pathways.

Climbing an old demesne tree

Castle Ellen is the former residency of the
Anglo-IrishLambert family and the birthplace of one Isabella Lambert who was mother
of the arch-Unionist and the great hate figure of Irish republicanism, Edward
Carson.

Captain Peter Lambert of Castle Ellen (c1785-1844)

He was known as the creator of Northern Ireland and a huge statute of
him dominates the front of the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont in
Belfast. He is also remembered as the barrister responsible for prosecuting and
ending the career of Oscar Wilde, his former friend, who supposedly was brought on a number of occasions to enjoy the hospitality and scenery of Castle Ellen whilst they were students together in Trinity College Dublin.

Dining Room

It seems that Edward spent many happy times at
Castle Ellen. It was during his sojourns in east Galway that he learnt the
Gaelic game of hurling which he helped popularized at Trinity College Dublin,
one of the great bastions of British imperialism in Ireland.

Steps to the former Tennis & Croquet Lawns

Michael bought the demesne in 1974 when the
buildings were in an advance state of disrepair and has spent much energies and
monies over the subsequent years endeavouring to bring the place back to its
former Victorian aristocratic splendour. A true labour of love that he deserves
great admiration for.

Old farm machinery, Castle Ellen

In the process, he has built up an eclectic mix
of memorabilia, from military artifacts to ancient farmyard machinery. You get
a strong sense of the British Empire at its zenith as you wander through the
remnants of croquet and tennis lawns, the walled gardens with their orchards
and maze, the tree lined avenue, court yard, the pony-driven water well and the livestock tunnel.

Basement Servant's Quarters, Castle Ellen

During the 1990s, Castle Ellen was an renowned artists’
retreat, where painters, sculptors and others were given residency in lieu of
restoration and enhancement works to the mansion,

The Three Athenry Castles Looped Heritage Cycle
Trail: Route Overview

The c29km looped cycle tour starts at Athenry
Castle and then travels onto the Monivea Road before turning right
approximately 1.5km outside Athenry in the direction of Graigabbey.

Bog Cotton, Monivea

The route
then passes through the farmlands and bogs of Bengarra,

Bengarra Bog

on into the village of
Newcastle, along a botharín through the Monivea Bog with its fascinating flora
and fauna;

Monivea Woods

to the Monivea demesne with its collection of historical sites that
was for centuries the home of the renowned Anglo-Norman fFrench family, one of
the famous merchant tribes of Galway. This is followed by a stopover in the
quaint colonial plantation village of Monivea where flax in former times was laid out to dry on
its spacious green.

All the Fun of the Monivea Fair!

Our tour of August 30th coincides with the hosting of the annual Monivea Fair aka Agricultural Show where we will enjoy all the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, culinary delights, displays of prized animals and vintage farm equipment, fairground attractions, games and merriment of a traditional rural gathering at the end of the harvest in Ireland in days gone by.

Prized Sheep at Monivea Fair

Fowl & Vintage Tractors at Monivea Fair

Archery at Monivea Fair

After this thoroughly enjoyable event, we will continue onto Castle Ellen where
visitors can enjoy a walk along the lawns of the famed Georgian mansion that
was formerly the residency of the Anglo-Irish Lambert family.

Lamberts' Coat of Arms

The route then
continues onto for five km to the medieval town of Athenry.Click here for an online map of the route.

Lover of Nature, of Peoples & of Technology.Endeavour to 'Think Global, Act Local'.Believer in Liberation Theology.Proud to be Irish with a Rebel Heart.

"I view 'Technology' as a liberating force & a means of helping in saving the planet from man's catastrophic interference.

'Galway Science Person of the Year' Award 2006& 2012. 'Galway IT in the Community' Award 2014 (ITAG). Recipient of Galway Mayoral Award
for community projects. Co-founder of Coderdojo Galway City which won ITAG 'Technology in the Community Award' 2013. Curator & founding member of Computer & Communications Museum of Ireland. Presented also with a number of other Science &
Technology plaudits including Galway ITAG Information Technology Schools Award 2006.Former Holiday Village manager, pub owner & Music promoter.

The Irish

The great Gaels of IrelandAre the men that God made madFor all their wars are merry,And all their songs are sad-G.K. Chesterton, English writer

Wise Words

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. -Martin Luther King